Young Puppy Support Group

[DuchessDarty]

I’d been looking for one of these but the only puppy support thread currently running is for older puppies. I’ve seen a few threads recently from posters who have new puppies like me, and thought I’d start our own group as I’d love to compare notes. But all welcome!

To kick off -

My pup, DartyPup, is a female poodle cross who is nearly 11 weeks old. Very sweet, friendly, fairly calm, sleeps a good stretch at night in her crate no problem and is happy to play in the garden by herself if I’m in the kitchen/conservatory and we easily have eyes on each other. She has a lot of naps and is doing well with house training.

But- she has the usual puppy traits of being needy and nippy. She loves biting bare toes and has a witching hour in the evening (as another poster aptly describes it!).

I adore the bond we seem to have bit am finding it draining. My children are old enough to be hands on and are keen to be, but their periods of peak energy don’t always correspond with the Pup’s. And when it comes down to it, she often wants me and so will whine if left with them downstairs while I escape for a rest. If they mistakenly leave a door open giving her access to the stairs, she’ll leg it up to find me. A stair gate isn’t an option unfortunately due to the design of our stairs.

Both my kids have never been particularly early risers and I’ve always been secretly pleased about dodging 6am wake up calls ... until DartyPup.

Yes feel better this morning, thank you Pudding and 3teens Had a good walk around the park last night and was really pleased with DartyPup’s increasing socialisation with other dogs. At least she doesn’t try and bite them

We met a 5 month boy goldendoodle who looked just like DartyPup (a cavapoo) only 4x the size - sane fur colour and texture! Was very cute.

She’s been sweet this morning but I’ve just discovered a stealth poo in my study which I didn’t realise she’d been in, so my goodwill towards her hasn’t yet been fully restored ...

DC2 went away on a 5-day school trip this morning and as much as I love him and will miss him, as atm he’s a hyperactive handful with attitude, and DartyPoo is similar, I’m really looking forward to a calmer week. Heaven forbid I may even get some work done

Calm CanoeDog is on Fish4Dogs puppy food which seems to be agreeing with him.

It was recommended by the breeder and the website has 50% off new orders so we've just got a massive bag for £18.

Retreat puppy's last meal when he was little was at 5pm (still is actually) could that be a factor?
Are you sleeping next to the crate atm - I found that really helped to pick up cues to let him out to toilet if he needed and reassure him back to sleep. I slept downstairs for about two weeks - and then he slept no trouble right through till 7am from last pee at 11ish.
Biting in our house is always tiredness, or need for a pee, or calm down rather than needing more exercise. Puppy is just nipping me now, as I've got his sleep routine out of synch and had a long walk first thing rather than at 11am as I usually do. He is tired, not bored, I know!!!

A trick the puppy training taught which I am going to use in earnest to settle him when we are out and I want him to stop racing around (ie friend's house/cafe) is to use the lead, tie loosely him somewhere where he can settle down, ie floor on a blanket with a chewy toy (Not squeaky!) where he can see you but you aren't in biting distance. They usually calm down quite quickly. And then if they are going to pee, poo at leastand going crazy for that reason you can see what is happening or even before it happens!! That's when the crate isn't available or you in the wrong place/crate is a sleep cue.

Can I ask about your morning routines please as I'm really struggling. So pup wake up time totally dependent on if he's disturbed by someone going off to work early, but if no disturbances then he wakes 7.30-8.30 and nothing during the night. This is fantastic I know, but if DH leaves at 6.15am pup will be grumbling a bit from then on and I don't want to leave him as teens both doing big exams (it's relaxing here!) SO, I shower the night before so I can leap out of bed at first yip or earlier if I feel like it. Then it's a frantic rush to wash face and pull on clothes and get downstairs and get him out in garden for toileting and playing (playing with him seems to keep him out there longer and give him more opportunities to empty his tank). I was then bringing him in for breakfast then taking him out for a walk at say 8.30/9 but he was reluctant. Tried new routine today where I left walk till 11am which was less frantic for me but still he wasn't keen.
So my question really is, how do you make mornings work and when do you do the "walk" given need to get self ready, their need to toilet, their ability to walk on a lead and to walk any distance, their reluctance to walk? Thanks!

Nettleskeins A friend taught me that table leg trick too and it's fab. I was definitely fussing him and cuddling him too much but leaving him be more has helped.

MrsEricBana
I get up at 7 with calmpup and go down and let him out into the garden then I let him in feed him and get my children ready and off to school
Then I come bck and try to take him out so it has been a disaster everyday he is not happy at been taken out weird dog
Today I got the lead wrapped around my legs and he tripped me up flat on the floor I was dying of embarrassment

Has anyone been advised to get their puppy vaccinated with lepto 2 or 3 but definitely not lepto 4? My breeder was so adamant that we don’t allow our vet to use the lepto 4 vaccine because of all the adverse effects it causes. She said that if my vet says they only use lepto 4 then to go to a different vet. It’s such a concern.

Mrs Eric Bana puppy training class lady said never take them for a walk straight after a meal as they need to sleep then/digest. leave at least 45 minutes.

I think you are meant to practice walking on a lead in the house and garden before you attempt it outdoors.

I'm ashamed to say I drove mine to the park or carried him and then he was very excited to sniff around in the grass and walk a bit. Then that extended to walking on pavements. The pavements required treating to make him move forwards. (Again a puppy training tip) So you offer dog a little treat (tiny tiny - could be some of his kibble) to move forward whilst saying Lets Go. Again puppy class said if you are in a hurry [ie they will stop and sniff, stop and sniff and you don't want to be pulling, ever] it isn't going to work!! Hence me driving him to park...

But he very quickly worked out that walking to the park was a good idea as it was fun there, pushover was coaxing him with treats, and he lurrrved other dogs. But I think that was when he was 14 weeks...

Thank you calmpuppycrazykids and Nettleskeins, that's so helpful. So both of you are walking a bit later then. All my neighbours seem to get up, let dog out for a quick wee then immediately whisk them off on actual walk and if you go to the park after 9 they've all been and gone, whereas my new plan of toilet, feed, get everyone else ready THEN try a walk seems to fit with what you're saying. Pup is 11.5 weeks and my first puppy class is tomorrow thankfully. Thanks again.
Retreatbynameretreatbynature We have had L4 but on googling it I can see why some advise against it.

Hi,
Have a 13 week old schnoodle (schnauzer/poodle cross) that we brought home at 8 weeks. he is gorgeous and it is getting a bit easier now. Those first couple of weeks I was asking myself what the hell we had done. This is our 4th dog but only the second puppy. Haven't had a puppy for 20 years! Im far more tired now and it is much more of an adjustment. Previously with small kids at home life was pretty chaotic anyway. Now i'm finding a puppy much more restrictive.

We have used a crate at night as we have a very small very old dog who the puppy is bullying. This is really hard to deal with. The older dog is a rescue and very submissive and won't fight back. Basically I have to act as the third dog and protect him. But it is continuous.

regarding the crate, he made a fuss for about 2 minutes each night and then went quiet. I think maybe it is better because of another dog in the room. No noise from 10:30ish til we get up at about 7.

I actually did what all training advice tells you not to!. I put puppy pad in half the crate and bedding in the other. He did use it at first and now we have gone a week with no mess. Yaayyy.

Schedule in the morning is: 7am dogs out in garden. Feed older dog while puppy jumps around, pulls at my dressing gown and generally goes crazy. Put older dog in another room then feed puppy.

I don't rush out for his walk. I get myself breakfasted, showered and dressed and then take him out. I also drive to park for morning walk. I do lead walk in afternoon which he is not good at, Have to use treats to keep hm in forward direction. However, after using a long training lead and finding he never went very far from me I bit the bullet and let him off the lead (in the middle of the park). He is remarkably good and sticks by my side mostly.

Hello 👋. My collie is 16 weeks. She’s behind with everything as we only got her last week where she was living outside on a farm. Can’t walk her til next week after second jab (we also had to start again from scratch) which is a nuisance. Love your term ‘stealthy poo’ they’re so quick aren’t they!!

I’d forgotten how hard work having a puppy is and even DH, who was the one with his heart set on getting one, was a bit despondent yesterday. Though she’s so pretty, when you look in her eyes, you know everything’s going to be ok.

lazymum99 Thanks for that info. Poor old dog, what a shame. It has been a bit like this with my cat - he now stays where pup is not and takes his chances dashing in for food when pup is out.
So when you are upstairs getting showered etc where do you put pup? I only use crate at night and can't have a playpen due to layout.

I'm going to try driving to the park as he's much happier once there. We are at a farm cafe thing now and he scampered out happily as there was grass to play / wee on. Much nicer than city pavement.

@calmpuppycrazykids sorry but I couldn't help but chuckle at your pup getting the lead wrapped round you and you falling flat on the floor - I do hope you're OK!

Interesting chat about morning routines because I'd been wondering if I should be giving DartyPup an early morning walk. Haven't been doing so - I get up when she wakes me up basically as she usually wakes somewhere between 6am-6:45am before the rest of us and then I let her out into the garden for "eliminations" and then feed her breakfast around 7am. We're only halfway through our first week of being able to go for walks post-acc so I haven't got an established walking routine yet, especially as she's only 11 weeks today, got little legs, and has access to the garden most of the day. I've been taking her around lunchtime and then one in the evening.

However today we had to leave the house before 6am to see DC2 off on school journey and took DartyPup with us. I thought she'd enjoy the morning walk (on pavements), but madame mostly preferred to be carried. It made me realise my instinct that she didn't need an early morning walk was correct. I'm going to be aiming for one around 11am next week as that's when my local friend goes, and as I work from home it allows me to do some work then have a break. I'm going to try out different times to see what fits. But I appreciate I'm very luck as I have a park (with a dog part section) rest beside my house so it's easy to do. DartyPup is getting the hang of walking on the pavement to the park, but then it only takes 2 minutes, and on the path inside the park.

We had a nice walk in the park at 3:30pmish today. When we came back I took her out in the gardens to do her business and when I sat down and took her harness off she became jumpy and bitey with me. So I gave her an ice cube, which she loved, and when after that she started biting and jumping again, I put her straight into her crate and she's currently having a nice nap.

@mrsericbana I put the puppy in the kitchen and shut the door. Because he has been crated all night I only use it during the day if I have to go out. Not been doing much of that lately

Ok I'll try that, thanks! I know it sounds stupid but I'm a bit reluctant as he could be up to all sorts in there (making a roast, baking fairy cakes etc). Yes I don't want to put him in the crate unnecessarily and he doesn't choose to go in by himself.

We are not crating. We have a small pen in the corner of the kitchen which has room for his bed, bowls and space to put newspaper or a pad down at night. It has a door which is open in the day but closed at night. He wanders in and out during the day and is getting much better at going to his bed when tired. The rest of the kitchen is perfectly safe for him and has a gate on so if we need to go upstairs or if he's being a bit of a nuisance and just needs to calm down he is shut in the kitchen. This is where he will be trained to stay when we go out. The reason we chose this system is laziness really. I didn't want to get up in the night so wanted to ensure there was space for him to go.

Hello! Slightly older Pup here at 16 weeks but has settled in like a dream. He’s very calm. But having read the above about lead walking - he HATED it to begin with. Tonight happily trotted along for 20 minutes in a decent heel position. We did no training - I think he just got bolder on his own!

Super proud of pup this morning. Not only was he sitting quietly in his bed waiting for me this morning but he stayed happily in the kitchen with a few toys while I had a shower and got ready. He was on his own for about 25 minutes no fuss. Given me the confidence to keep doing what we are doing.

Hi everyone

Would like to jump on the thread for some advice please! We have a 9 week old Golden Retriever pup and she is an absolute joy but we are really struggling at night. We have her bed/crate in the kitchen and at night close the kitchen door and have her puppy pads out but she is howling and crying all night long. Last night I got up and opened the kitchen door to let her through to the living room and she flopped on the carpet and then she never moved until hubby got up for work at 7! It seems to be she hates being locked in!

Should I just let her have the run of the kitchen and living room! We have puppy proofed it and the sofa and carpet are old anyway as we are doing a house renovation later in the year?

Morning! Sounds like she isn’t ready to be alone yet. We had the same with our pup. Can you put her crate next to the sofa and sleep downstairs with her a few nights until she’s settled in?

Morning everyone! Can I join? 10 week old Bichon pup here who we’ve had for just over 2 weeks.

Success so far are toilet training (helped immensely by the breeder getting them going outside before he let them go!), sleeping through the night - she sleeps 10-5 wakes up for a wee and then goes back to bed until 6.30 ish.

Challenges are - trying to chase the cat, very hit and miss, sometimes she ignores the cat, most of the time we can distract her with cheese but when the cat catches us of guard then she’s off 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ and secondly she bellows when I leave the room, even if it’s just to pop to the fridge which is still in eye sight. Oddly this gets better throughout the day but the first couple of times are insane, she’s like a banshee 😂😂😂 any tips or tricks you’ve tried and found worked with these?

Will post more later responding to people but quick one:

Am worried as about to leave DartyPup home alone for the guest time. She’s 11 weeks old and we’ve had her for 3. Unavoidable that I need to leave her this morning as I have an important medical appointment at short notice. Should be gone no more than 2 hours. Thought it would be find as she’d nap but she’s just had a long nap. Darn. I’m leaving her in the kitchen with doors shut and her crate in there (left open), so she can snuggle in her crate or play. Fingers crossed.

First time not guest time!

Honeypot
I agree with Jrkrbeuiw I think she is just not ready to be alone yet.

I took my pup out this morning and he just sees to be afraid of everything
Also when I walk him he is trying to push is head into the back of my legs
any ideas of what I can do to make him less skitish
My Dh thinks its early days and he will get there
On the plus side I didn't fall on my backside today